McDonald’s

English: An Officer Big Mac jailhouse with a mouth/burger/jail for kids to climb-into. It was part of the 1970s era “Mcdonaldand” playgrounds. This one is on display at a McDonalds in Calexico, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)See also: Cola Wars, Print, Cars, Food/ Restaurants, McDonalds, Holidays, Products, Toys/Games, Travel. Let’s face it: McDonald’s may be the poster child for everything wrong in American culture NOW but when we were kids it was the poster child for everything right (food the way you like it right now with a toy and a killer business model) and McDonald’s conquered the world wide market during exponential growth from 1980-1990. 80s kids remember when Happy Meals had real toys and ‘fruit’ hadn’t yet made it fast-food vocabulary (fruit is only fast if it’s pre-peeled); when Ronald McDonald was somebody to get excited about and if your kid choked on a Happy Meal toy it was your own damned fault for letting them stuff a whole matchbox car in their mouth. 80s kids will also remember the downfall of fast food- the health craze that swept the country and pulled McD’s right along with it- adding no-cholesterol, no-fat, sandwiched-between-cardboard foodstuffs. Those little cherry pies were never the same again. *McDonald’s Happy Meal toy info HERE *McDonald’s Commercial highlights HERE *McDonald’s Commercial Jingle Lyrics HEREGet reacquainted with the McDonaldland gang up through 1990:Ronald McDonald -introduced in 1965 and redone in 1967 Big Mac the Policeman (Constable of McDonaldland) – 1968 GrimaceUncle O’Grimacey (Grimace’s Irish uncle)-1970s The Hamburgler – redone in 1987 from his original old man appearance Mayor McCheese (Mayor of McDonaldland) Captain Crook The Professor The Fry Guys/ Fry Girls/ Fry Kids – introduced in 1978 and originally called Goblins / goblin-up-fries The Happy Meal Guys (Fries, Burger, Cookies and a Shake puppets) – introduced 1979 Birdy the Earlybird – introduced in 1980 The McNugget Buddies – introduced in 1983 CosMc! – introduced in 1988